Phantom Faces at the Windows
by twostrandsofmelody
Summary: Marius is haunted by the friends he lost. Will he ever be free of them or will they make him become like them? Dark themes and unintentional E/E
1. Chapter 1

She was cold to the touch. Eponine had always been so warm and full of life. Her dark brown hair lay tangled and blood stained around her shoulders. She stared at him so hauntingly, so heartbreakingly.

"Eponine?" Marius asked, holding his hand out for her again. She took his hand, letting him draw her near. "Where have you gone 'ponine?"

"You killed me."

"I didn't!" Marius shook her, clutching her shoulders and staring into her dark brown eyes. "Please 'ponine if my words could bring you life."

Eponine rose up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss against Marius' unsuspecting lips. He hesitated before slowly kissing her back. "No!" He shouted pushing away from her and covering his face in shame.

"'Please, 'ponine. Don't do this. You are my friend nothing more." Marius touched his fingers to his lips, relishing the cold feel of where her lips had been on him. He cared so much for Eponine, how could he have let her die?

Marius turned and saw Eponine lying on the ground, crumpled into a heap of her oversized bloodied, rags.

"No 'ponine!" Marius rushed to her side, kneeling and cradling her in his arms. "You can't die again. Not because of me."

"You never loved me." She croaked in pain, clutching her stomach in agony. "You never saw me there."

"I always saw you, I always loved you."

Marius screamed her name as the dream shattered around him.

"Eponine!"

"Marius, Marius!" Cosette touched his shoulder gently, jumping when he jerked away from her. "It was a dream, Marius."

"I'm sorry." Marius groaned, holding his throbbing head. "I'm sorry."

"It was a nightmare, just like the others." Cosette brushed her blonde locks over her shoulders as she sat up straighter in their bed, holding his hand comfortingly. "You're safe."

"Cosette," Marius turned over and gathered his wife into his arms. "Make it stop."

"Shh," Cosette pulled him close, letting him burrow his face into the pillow of her bosom. "It's going to be alright, Marius." She smoothed her hand over his ruffled hair, pressing tender kisses onto his head. "Was it more dreams about the war?"

"Yes. Cosette, please make the pain go away." Marius cried, clutching his chest. "Everyone I cared about died at the Barricade. Why did I live."

"So that life can go on." Cosette whispered, gently nudging his chin up. "You were saved so that we could be together. Your friends smile down on us."

"No, they torment me. I see them everywhere." Marius held to her waist fearfully. "There in the shadows I see Enjolras now." He could see his closest friend standing there, the single candle flame flickered on his facial features. There was a stream of blood dripping down his forehead.

"There's no one there Marius."

"I'm sorry Enjolras." He cried out, hiding his face against her soft skin. "Please make him go away Cosette."

"Go away Enjolras," Cosette said softly, going along with Marius in hopes that it would calm him down.

"Is he gone?"

"Yes."

Marius peered at the place in the room, sitting up carefully. "He is gone." He let out a sigh of relief and glanced at his wife. "You did not expect to marry such a tormented man."

"I knew that the war would wound your spirit. You lost your friends and the people who have always been there for me."

"I love you Cosette," Marius leaned towards her and kissed her timidly, letting the kiss grow in intensity. "I'm sorry," He pulled away from her as his hands started to wander. "I will not use you to drown my sorrows."

"Let us drown together," Cosette pressed her hands to his chest and leaned in to capture his lips with hers. She knew that in the past it had helped calm his edge, settle him back into a peaceful night of sleep. She couldn't deny that in his turmoil Marius became a frenzied lover.

Marius rolled over on her, letting his weight press her into the bed. "I need you Cosette." He let his need press against her through the layers of their nightclothes teasingly.

Cosette smiled up at him as he started sliding up her nightgown, letting him settle where she welcomed him heartily.

"I need you Marius." A voice whispered like the wind through the room. Marius' eyes flew open as they were joined and he looked around the room desperately.

"Who's there?"

"Marius?" Cosette asked nervously.

"Marius." He could see in the dark, the shape of a worn brown hat over a softly curled mess of dark locks, the tan overcoat and that wide smile of the girl he had killed because he was too vain to see her.

"No!" He shouted, prying himself away from his wife and curling into a ball beside him, sobbing into his hands. He could see her standing there beside the bed, staring at him. He could feel her cool hand touching his bare skin.

"Marius, it's alright." Cosette whispered, her warm touch overrode Eponine's ghost like sensation. "I should have let you rest. Just lay here in my arms and I will protect you from these accursed spirits."

"I failed them all. I thought of you and killed Eponine. I thought of Eponine and killed them."

"Don't say that Marius."

Marius slammed his fists into the mattress, "Make this stop! Take my life if it will end it!"

"I have known my share of pain, Marius. My mother, her spirit visited me when I was a child. You must just go on with your life, see them as a guardian."

"They aren't guarding me, they're torturing me." Marius stared at the figure of Eponine, begging her with his mourning eyes to leave him be. "I am sorry Eponine."

The figure smiled at him, reaching towards him to brush her fingers along his cheek. "Say sorry for everything you did to me, but I'll still be dead. I died because I am so loyal to you. Loyal in life and loyal in death."

Marius smacked the invisible hand away and leaped from the bed. "I'm going for a walk. I need air."

"I'll-"

"Stay!"


	2. Chapter 2

Enjolras stood to his left and Eponine to his right. Marius tried to ignore them, but they never stopped speaking to him. Eponine never stopped touching his arm.

"On my own, I walk with him till morning." Eponine said, wrapping her arm around his waist. "I finally got my wish. I can walk beside you every day for the rest of your life."

"Leave me alone."

"Do you hear the people sing?" Enjolras questioned, his eyes never leaving Marius. "Singing the song of angry men."

"Be quiet!" Marius shouted, pushing the figure of Eponine away from him. "Please, just let me be."

"No."

Eponine laughed softly, "I was always doing you favours but what did you do for me? Why would I do anything now? I'm not obligated. I don't need your money."

"Eponine, leave me be!" Marius cried out, bating the phantom away. "What will it take to put you in the past?"

"You can't put what is in your mind in your past." Enjolras replied, patting Marius on the back like he had so many times in life. "My friend, we will always be part of you. Isn't that what friends are for?"

"Enjolras, Eponine, please. I'm begging you to leave me. Let me live. Let me be happy. Just please stop this torment."

"Did you hear the Enjolras, he wants us to stop our torment. Does he not know how he tormented me daily with his sweet words but contradicting actions?" Eponine rested her hand on Enjolras' arm, letting them stroll beside Marius as he made his way down the cobbled road.

"I understand why you are here Eponine. But why Enjolras? What wrong did I do to him?"

"You were too busy thinking instead of fighting. If you had been in the battle you could have saved me."

"You died proudly Enjolras."

"I died slumped over the mangled barricade and thrown in the back of a Javert's cart. My body was unceremoniously wheeled around the city as a display of what revolution can cause. I was no more than ripped flag on a broken pole."

"You were a symbol of the power of the people."

"I was so powerful that I died. I was brave and I was bold and I died. You were too worried about Cosette and Eponine. Some phantom rescued your undeserving soul."

"Please stop this."

"Did you ever notice how Enjolras responded when I died?" Eponine questioned quietly, Marius had to rethink what she said to be able to comprehend what she said.

"He handed me your hat." Marius remembered the moment like it had happened yesterday. "Your hat had fallen off when they carried you away. He grabbed it and gave it to me."

"Did you see anything?"

"What do you mean?" Marius questioned, feeling more and more unhinged with every word they had to say.

Enjolras laughed, "Everyone thought good old Enjolras only cared about his books, his country, and a hopeless war. I cared for Eponine but she was too blinded by some undeserving rich boy's meaningless kind words. Only in death can I finally have a chance."

"You. 'Ponine?" Marius gulped. "I was only her friend."

"Gentle touch, a pat to the cheek, kiss to the forehead, a hand to hold and shoulder to pat. It gave me hope."

"It's funny what death can reveal." Enjolras added, patting Marius on the back like old times. "You didn't even have to die to know what you did wrong in life."

"You'll hear all about it until you die."

"Do you hear the people sing?"

Marius covered his ears, "I can't hear you. You're dead."

"Dead and here to be with you until your dying day."

"Then kill me."

"Where would the fun be in that?" Éponine laughed, resting her cheek against Enjolras' shoulder. "Finally I have someone to hold me."

"Éponine, if it's sorry you want-"

"I don't want your apologies. I wanted your love. But I see now that it was all in vain."

"Éponine, please don't do this. If you and Enjolras want your phantom life together leave me out of it."

"Never."

~o~

"Are they gone Marius?" Cosette questioned as he entered their home. She had waited up for him, hoping and praying that he would be alright.

Marius stared at the couple standing before him, "Yes. They're gone."

"Then who are you staring at?" Cosette questioned, touching his arm gently. "Just ignore them."

"I am trying to." Marius gritted as he glared at Enjolras and Eponine. "They won't let me rest."

"It's going to be alright."

"I'm so sorry Cosette. I wanted to give you everything, but I've given you a life bound to a haunted man. I will never be the man I want to be for you."

"You will always be the man I wanted. As long as you are Marius you are the man I love."

"How sweet." Éponine quipped, giving the woman a hostile look she would never know was even there.

"My heart is full of love for you." Cosette continued, not knowing she had been interrupted. She pressed a kiss to her husband's lips, wishing to take the turmoil away.

"Not for me." Éponine added, knowing that pain she had felt when she helped them meet. "Not for me."

"Please," Marius growled, pulling away from the kiss and staring at his astral friend. "Let me be."

Éponine ignored his plea, turning to look up at Enjolras. "But look at me now. Someone who cares. All for me." Enjolras leaned down and kissed her lips, softly at first and then letting it grow into a passionate kiss.

Marius stared at them, unsure of what to say or what to do. "Cosette."

"What is it."

"Éponine and Enjolras."

"What do you mean?"

"What have I done?"

"Marius," Cosette whispered, seeing her husband turning redder and redder as he stared at the wall, where she presumed he saw his dead friends. "You need to calm down."

"Stop this! Stop it! I didn't mean to do this to you. I don't want to be held accountable for all of this!"

"You're still recovering Marius, you mustn't get overworked."

"I didn't mean to separate you!" Marius shouted and knelt to the floor sobbing. "I do not deserve this torment."


	3. Chapter 3

Cosette had never imagined that Marius would be so haunted by the deaths of his friends. She'd never imagined she'd have to care for a pale, shell of the man she'd fallen in love with. She begged him to let a doctor come to care for him, but he adamantly insisted against the idea. Finally after a week of him screaming and shouting at phantoms in the night he relented and let a doctor come to examine him.

The doctor explained that he was suffering from a mental state that soldiers suffered from after being in a battle. It can upset their mental state for weeks or months, even in serious cases years. He could only offer him a bloodletting once a week and to take opium to calm his nerves, daily. For Cosette he could offer, only, prayers for patience on her part.

She had played the dutiful daughter and now she would play the dutiful wife.

"Did you know," Marius started as she brought him a bowl of broth for supper, "Eponine and Enjolras cared for each other? I didn't either… I never realized that she pined after me. Enjolras says she was like my shadow and I gave her nothing in return."

"Said."

"What?"

"He _said_," Cosette corrected, stroking her fingers through his hair. "Enjolras is dead."

Marius laughed, shaking his head. "Enjolras is there." He pointed to the corner of the room. She didn't even turn to look. They went through this daily. "I wish they'd go away."

"You can make them go away. Stop seeing them."

"But they're there and they won't stop talking. I try. I do try."

"Our child needs his or her father to be sane, my love." Cosette whispered, giving him a small smile.

"What?" Marius' eyes cleared as he looked up at her. "What child?"

"Our baby." Cosette took his hand and placed it on her stomach, there was a subtle curve there beneath their hands. "I'm pregnant."

"Oh Cosette!" Marius exclaimed, accidently knocking the bowl of broth out of her hand and causing it to spill across the floor. The wooden bowl landed on its side and rolled across the floor. Marius watched as the bowl landed at the feet of Enjolras.

"Marius?" Cosette frowned, seeing that she had lost him again.

"You dropped this." Enjolras commented, picking the bowl up and walking to offer it to Marius. He laughed at his friend who gaped in response.

"Clumsy me." Cosette shook her head as she strode across the room to pick up the bowl. To Marius she'd walked straight through Enjolras, who held his own phantom bowl. "I'll get you a fresh bowl." She let out a frustrated sigh when he made no response.

"Did you hear that Marius?" Eponine asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "You're going to be the father. Shall you let your chair bear one of our names? Little Eponine Pontmercy or Enjolras Pontmercy."

"Cosette would never allow it. She tires of hearing your names."

"She hated me, you know. I hated her too." Eponine turned her head to look at the door. "I used to be rotten to the little blond angel. Little did I know I'd get my own when she captured your interest."

"You'd always ignored Eponine, brushed aside her girlish idolizing as if it were nothing. The girl would have laid down her life for you and she did." Enjolras shook his head, resting his hand on the young woman's shoulder. "You cast her even further aside after you saw your _angel_ in the park."

"I love Cosette."

"I loved you."

"You should have said!" Marius shouted.

"I followed you about, even just to hold your books. I didn't take your money to do little tasks for you. I took a letter through a _war_ for you! You didn't even kiss me when I died. You could have kissed me. I was dying and you knew it." Eponine's voice trembled.

"I've made a terrible mistake Eponine! Forgive me. I was bind. So blind. I robbed… I _robbed_ you of a life that you deserved! Oh, sweet, sweet 'Ponine." Marius buried his face in his hands. "I wish I could change it and spare you this, after life. I want you to rest in peace!"

Eponine exchanged a look with Enjolras. "He's admitted that he was wrong."

"You were my dear friend," Enjolras shook his head. "I wish that you could have used that bright mind to see Eponine for who she truly was… But it is your own loss. I have gained an afterlife with a beautiful woman."

"I wish you two will be happy together!" Marius sounded frantic as twisted his hands in his bed sheets. "I've decided on this life. I want to be with Cosette and I want to be a father. I want this life. I'm sorry, Eponine."

"I forgive you." Eponine smiled her young, girlish, smile. Her eyes still saw that he could do no wrong. She knew that he had but she cared for him with all of her heart. Or at least she had before she died. Now, she had forever to spend with the Amis and with Enjolras. They had been cut short when it came to life, but they'd be there behind Marius. Perhaps he wouldn't see them anymore, but he would see a shadow from the corner of his eye and _know_ that the phantoms of his friends were there.

They faded away into the light of a new morning and Marius was released from the state he had been ensnared in. He was free to be his vibrant self again. He was able to give Cosette and their child the man that they deserved. Perhaps, in a way, his negligence to Eponine had given her a better chance in the afterlife. She had always been a misunderstood girl and with all the time of eternity he was certain Enjolras would seek to figure her out; he had always liked a puzzle. Marius had never liked a puzzle; he would sooner pay someone to solve it for him. He and Cosette fit together without in finagling and she took little effort to understand.

**A/N: Another story comes to an end. I'm on a binge to finish off stories that are straggling behind my huge multi-chapter fics. I wanted to finish some up before Uni starts next week with an 18 credit hour week of English and History. **


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